Russia faces 'war' in arms sales to Syria: Russian official

A senior Russian official says a "real war" has been launched against Moscow to halt its legal exports of weapons to Syria."The [Russian] ships are lured into ports and arrested there under various devised pretexts. When the ships are at sea, any insurance is canceled," Alexander Fomin, the head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, told Ekho Moskvy radio on Friday.

Fomin noted that Russia has succeeded to defuse attempts to hamper deliveries of the contracted goods to the Damascus government.

Russia says it will continue supplying Syria with weapons based on international law and bilateral obligations. But, certain Western states are pushing Moscow to stop its arms trade with Damascus, the largest importer of Russian weapons in the Middle East.

Last year, Russia dismissed a demand by the United States to stop sending attack helicopters to Syria, saying it was merely returning equipment overhauled as part of long-standing contracts with Syria.

This is while, some Western counties along with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding and arming the militants fighting the Syrian government.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

">
"A real war has been declared against us," he added, without specifying which countries are behind the move.

Fomin noted that Russia has succeeded to defuse attempts to hamper deliveries of the contracted goods to the Damascus government.

Russia says it will continue supplying Syria with weapons based on international law and bilateral obligations. But, certain Western states are pushing Moscow to stop its arms trade with Damascus, the largest importer of Russian weapons in the Middle East.

Last year, Russia dismissed a demand by the United States to stop sending attack helicopters to Syria, saying it was merely returning equipment overhauled as part of long-standing contracts with Syria.

This is while, some Western counties along with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding and arming the militants fighting the Syrian government.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.